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CPT code 00872: Lithotripsy anesthesia, water-bath technique2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Anesthesia for extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy with water-bath coupling, rather than the no-water-bath technique, during urinary-stone treatment.

CMS RVU26DEffective Oct 1, 2026109 payment localities996 Medicare services in 2024

Medicare rate · 00872

Lithotripsy anesthesia, water-bath technique

Office or facility?

Work RVUs
0
Total RVUs
0.00
Global days
XXX

National rate · 2026

—

Not priced in the facility setting.

See every locality for 00872 →Billed by an NP, PA or therapist? →

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

Your location

Medicare pays by the payment locality where the service is performed.

On this page 10 sections
  1. Medicare rate
  2. What 00872 covers
  3. By payment locality
  4. Rate map
  5. How it’s calculated
  6. Payment rules
  7. Similar codes
  8. Related codes
  9. Billing questions
  10. Sources

What 00872 covers

Code 00872 represents anesthesia for extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy performed with water-bath coupling to fragment urinary stones. An anesthesia practitioner provides and reports the anesthesia service; the practitioner performing lithotripsy reports the operative service separately. The operative record should identify shock-wave lithotripsy and its water-bath technique, while the anesthesia record supports the anesthesia service and recorded time.

Choose 00872 when water-bath coupling is used; 00873 is the corresponding anesthesia code for shock-wave lithotripsy without a water bath. Code 00870 is for anesthesia during operative cystolithotomy, not shock-wave treatment. This code has 7 base units. Medicare payment is the sum of base units and time units multiplied by the locality’s anesthesia conversion factor. Anesthesia time is reported in minutes and converted to 15-minute units to one decimal place, from preparation for anesthesia until the practitioner is no longer in personal attendance and the patient can safely be placed under postoperative care; the conversion factor varies by locality.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 00872 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

00872 office and facility rates by payment locality
Payment localityOfficeFacility
AlabamaUnavailableUnavailable
AlaskaUnavailableUnavailable
ArizonaUnavailableUnavailable
ArkansasUnavailableUnavailable
Atlanta, GAUnavailableUnavailable
Austin, TXUnavailableUnavailable
Bakersfield, CAUnavailableUnavailable
Baltimore area, MDUnavailableUnavailable
Beaumont, TXUnavailableUnavailable
Brazoria, TXUnavailableUnavailable

00872 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

MEWIVTNHMTNDMNMINYMARIWAIDWYSDIAILINOHPANJCTORNVUTCONEMOKYWVVAMDDECAAZNMKSOKARTNNCSCDCTXLAMSALGAFLAKHI

Explore a state

Local rates. Clear comparisons.

Hover or focus a tile to see its rate range. Select it to open the state’s fee schedule.

View every state and territory as a table
00872 office rate range by state
State / territoryOffice rate rangeLocalities
AKNo published base rate1
ALNo published base rate1
ARNo published base rate1
AZNo published base rate1
CANo published base rate29
CONo published base rate1
CTNo published base rate1
DCNo published base rate1
DENo published base rate1
FLNo published base rate3
GANo published base rate2
GUNo published base rate1
HINo published base rate1
IANo published base rate1
IDNo published base rate1
ILNo published base rate4
INNo published base rate1
KSNo published base rate1
KYNo published base rate1
LANo published base rate2
MANo published base rate2
MDNo published base rate3
MENo published base rate2
MINo published base rate2
MNNo published base rate1
MONo published base rate3
MSNo published base rate1
MTNo published base rate1
NCNo published base rate1
NDNo published base rate1
NENo published base rate1
NHNo published base rate1
NJNo published base rate2
NMNo published base rate1
NVNo published base rate1
NYNo published base rate5
OHNo published base rate1
OKNo published base rate1
ORNo published base rate2
PANo published base rate2
PRNo published base rate1
RINo published base rate1
SCNo published base rate1
SDNo published base rate1
TNNo published base rate1
TXNo published base rate8
UTNo published base rate1
VANo published base rate2
VINo published base rate1
VTNo published base rate1
WANo published base rate2
WINo published base rate1
WVNo published base rate1
WYNo published base rate1

How the 00872 rate is calculated

Each of 00872’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

How the rate is built · 00872

RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor

Office or facility?

Work0.00

0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Practice expense0.00

0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Malpractice0.00

0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Adjusted RVUs

0.0000

Conversion factor

$33.4009

Medicare rate

$0.00

Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.

Payment rules and modifiers for 00872

00872 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.

Place of service · 00872

Which rate does Medicare pay?

The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).

POS 11 · non-facility rate · national

—

00872 isn’t priced in this setting.

00872 compared with similar codes

Compare codes · National

00872 vs 00873 vs 00870: Medicare rates

Office or facility?

  • 00872

    Lithotripsy anesthesia, water-bath technique0 wRVU

    Not priced

  • 00873

    ESWL anesthesia, without water bath0 wRVU

    Not priced

  • 00870

    Cystolithotomy anesthesia, extraperitoneal approach0 wRVU

    Not priced

How to choose

00873ESWL anesthesiaWithout water bath
Both codes cover anesthesia for shock-wave lithotripsy. Water-bath coupling distinguishes 00872 from 00873.
00870Cystolithotomy anesthesiaExtraperitoneal approach
00870 is for anesthesia during operative cystolithotomy; 00872 is for water-bath shock-wave lithotripsy.

Codes related to 00872

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Codes related to 00872
CodeHow it relatesNational office range
Used instead
00873ESWL anesthesia, without water bathAnesthesia for shock-wave lithotripsy using the no-water-bath technique.No office rate

00872 billing questions

How do I distinguish 00872 from 00873?

Choose 00872 when shock-wave lithotripsy uses water-bath coupling. Choose 00873 when it uses no water bath.

Is anesthesia for bladder-stone removal reported with 00872?

No. Code 00872 is for water-bath shock-wave lithotripsy. Code 00870 is for anesthesia during operative cystolithotomy.

What should the records show?

The operative report should identify shock-wave lithotripsy and the water-bath technique. The anesthesia record should support the anesthesia service and its time.

How are Medicare units calculated?

This code has 7 base units. Anesthesia time is converted from minutes to 15-minute units to one decimal place; the time units are added to the base units, and the sum is multiplied by the locality’s anesthesia conversion factor.

Is the lithotripsy procedure itself included in this anesthesia code?

No. This code reports the anesthesia service; the practitioner performing lithotripsy reports the operative service separately.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates

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